The site — californiaavocado.com/blog — also also is planned to allow for consumer interaction.

The commission will continue with its core market advertising in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Sacramento, Calif.

“We’ll also have promotions in Portland (Ore.), Seattle, Denver, Phoenix and Salt Lake City,” she said.

The markets are ones the commission has worked with through the years, with some, such as Salt Lake City and Denver, added fairly recently.

In addition, there will be target account opportunities for retailers and foodservice operators who want to promote California avocados in other areas where consumers reside who “have an affinity for California avocados.”

For example, some specific key-account promotions are scheduled for Texas.

The commission plans to do online advertising in various bulletins, sponsor “America’s Test Kitchen” on public television again, run print advertising in some of the epicurean magazines and buy general market radio, outdoor billboards, Bay Area Rapid Transit advertising and in-store radio in target markets.

Helping retailers

The commission plans to continue to work closely with registered dietitians affiliated with supermarkets and provide them with information to use in their consumer communications.

“We find it to be really effective to have them connecting with their shoppers and consumers and incorporating our information into their materials,” DeLyser said.

New this year is the 5-Star Performance Program that allows retailers to earn points for their efforts in the promotion of California avocados.

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About the Author:

Tom Burfield, Western Correspondent

Tom Burfield has been Western correspondent for The Packer for more than 20 years, and he also writes for Produce Retailer magazine and has contributed to several other Farm Journal Media publications.